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RELEASE DAY BLITZ--Public Enemies by Ann Aguirre

We are absolutely thrilled to bring you the Release Week Blitz for Ann Aguirre's PUBLIC ENEMIES!! PUBLIC ENEMIES is a Young Adult Paranormal novel filled with horror and suspense and is a part of Ann Aguirre’s Immortal Game Trilogy, published by Macmillan. Grab your copy today!! And don't miss MORTAL DANGER, book 1 in this awesome trilogy!

“More of the Harbinger’s tricks?” I tugged
at my clothes, only to notice that they’d shifted back at some point. So… was I
wrong before? Am I wearing the same
dress? The constant unreality might wreck my brain.

“Mostly. I think.”

The Harbinger stopped his bizarre
frolicking to clap his hands, and the sound rang out like thunder, much louder
than anyone else could achieve with two palms. “We have one final diversion
before the feast is ended. Shall I show you?”

Like before, the mob practically destroyed
the ballroom with enthusiasm. By then, numbness had taken over; I could only
exist in a state of abject terror for so long. Along with everyone else, I
watched as two giant amorphous moth-beasts dragged someone up onto the dais. At
first glance, I thought it was a girl but when the person rolled over, I
realized it was a boy, probably fourteen or so, and small for his age.
Definitely human, unless this was the best illusion ever. His terror was
palpable, and it made the immortals nearby stir with avid anticipation.

“Delicious,”
something with sharp teeth hissed.

The boy came up onto his knees, resting
delicate hands on the floor before him in a posture of defeat so abject that I
took a step forward. Bruises ringed his throat and his wrists, and what he had
on could barely be called clothes; the shirt was torn in three places and the
pants had frayed until they hit his knees, revealing filthy calves and feet
that were sliced up as if he was routinely forced to walk across broken glass.
On his right hand, two of the fingers were bent at unnatural angles, either
broken now, or they had been, then they healed badly afterward.

“Kian…” I whispered. “I don’t like where
this is going.”

“This one has a most impressive survival
instinct,” the Harbinger said, indicating the cowering boy with a flourish.
“He’s been my favorite pet for some time. But his luck might run out today.
Shall we find out?”

The audience rumbled in agreement, and the
room changed. I had no explanation for it, but suddenly it seemed as if we’d
moved from the ballroom entirely. We were standing outside an arena now with a
blood-stained pit below. Bones littered the floor of it, along with broken
weapons. Snarls came from the sublevel, enough to chill my blood.

“Time for a bit of fun,” the Harbinger
said.

Before I knew what I planned to do, I
broke away from Kian. He reached for me but I wasn’t stopping. I’d been passive
for too long, waiting and hoping that things would get better. It was time for
me to fight, even if I didn’t know how. Yeah, there might be fallout, but the
Harbinger had to protect me, right?
Even if I interfered with his grisly show.

Scared didn’t cover how I felt just then. This is a death match, a gladiator fight,
and you’ve never even played Mortal Kombat. You don’t know shit about knives or
swords or whatever. You’re probably going to lose. Horribly.

But I wouldn’t be able to live with myself
if I stood by and watched.

When I climbed up on the stage, the
Harbinger was a statue, lightning eyes flashing astonishment and displeasure.
But he held still and waited for me to play my card. Maybe Dwyer was right, and
I’d end up broken if I participated in their game. I only knew that I was sick
and tired of being moved on the board.

PUBLIC ENEMIES Synopsis:

In Book 2 of the Immortal Game trilogy, Edie must learn the rules of the game . . . and then play better than anyone else.

Through a Faustian bargain, Edie Kramer has been pulled into the dangerous world of the Immortal Game, where belief makes your nightmares real. Hungry for sport, fears-made-flesh are always raising the stakes. To them, human lives are less than nothing, just pieces on a board.

Because of her boyfriend Kian's sacrifice, she's operating under the mysterious Harbinger's aegis, but his patronage could prove as fatal as the opposition. Raw from deepest loss, she's terrified over the deal Kian made for her. Though her very public enemies keep sending foot soldiers--mercenary monsters committed to her destruction--she's not the one playing under a doom clock. Kian has six months...unless Edie can save him. And this is a game she can't bear to lose.

And don’t miss the previous books in the Immortal Game Trilogy!

Ann Aguirre is a New York Times & USA Today bestselling author and RITA winner with a degree in English Literature; before she began writing full time, she was a clown, a clerk, a voice actress, and a savior of stray kittens, not necessarily in that order. She grew up in a yellow house across from a cornfield, but now she lives in sunny Mexico with her husband, children, and various pets. Ann likes books, emo music, action movies, and she writes all kinds of genre fiction for adults and teens, published with Harlequin, Macmillan, and Penguin, among others.